


where you were, where you are, where you're going

by aunt_zelda



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Asexual Character, Bad Flirting, Critmas Exchange, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Hair Braiding, M/M, Masturbation, Other, Resurrection, Tarot, critmas treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:47:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21930919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aunt_zelda/pseuds/aunt_zelda
Summary: Molly with three very different characters: Vax'ildan, Caduceus, and Caleb.Molly with three very different tarot cards: Death, The Hermit, and the Moon.
Relationships: Caduceus Clay & Mollymauk Tealeaf, Caduceus Clay/Mollymauk Tealeaf, Mollymauk Tealeaf & Vax'ildan, Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 7
Kudos: 97
Collections: Critmas Exchange 2019





	where you were, where you are, where you're going

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Settiai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/gifts).



> I wanted to write you a treat, and realized I could combine three of the pairings into one sequential fic. I hope you like it!
> 
> I'm personally of the mind that Molly's tarot was all bullcrap, but I do have a pet theory that he didn't know much about them and the cards were eerily prophetic on their own somehow. They make for a good story outline at least.

Death

It was cold. Molly hated being cold. He ached for Yasha’s arms, for the furs she kept in her pack and wrapped him in when the weather turned. 

“Hello?” Molly shuddered as his voice echoed across the unending black abyss. 

A figure turned to face him, slowly, like it was remembering how to move. It looked like a man with elvish blood: dark hair, dark eyes, dark wings sprouting from his back, and some kind of white plant growing from his right shoulder. There were laugh lines on his face, but his face was grim now. 

Death was cold. Death was dark. Death was bleak. 

“… I’m dead.” Molly said. 

The figure nodded. 

“… I want to go back.”

“Back?” the man’s voice was rough and dry. “You have been back before. Do you not remember it?”

Molly scowled. “I woke up two years ago in a grave with no memories. That’s the first thing I remember.”

“Are you curious, about what you were?”

“No. I’m not that man anymore. Don’t want to know him.” Molly felt a flicker of fear. What if that was that the wrong answer? 

The figure nodded heavily. “Good. You have learned something with your new life. I think you should learn more.” He raised his hand and slashed through the air. 

Pain erupted from Molly’s chest. He staggered backwards and fell … and fell … and fell … 

He woke to an unfamiliar voice and hands on his chest. There was light and he could breathe and he was warm again. 

The Hermit

Molly crawled up close to Caduceus on the third night after the resurrection. His body ached and his mind rebelled at the thought of sleep. Sleep was too close to death. Every time he closed his eyes he saw raven fathers. 

“Hello,” rumbled Caduceus. “You’re up late. Would you like some tea?”

Molly had heard what the others whispered about that tea. “… sure.”

He watched Caduceus move, fussing with cups and leaves and water. Such large hands, so gentle, so unlike hands Molly had ever seen. 

They drank the tea together, slowly. Molly tasted something flowery, something tangy, and something earthy all at once. As they drank, Molly shifted closer and closer to Caduceus, until he was leaning against the larger man. He waited for Caduceus to push him away or react, but neither happened. 

“It’s a cold night, you can get closer if you like.” Caduceus offered. He lifted an end of a blanket he’d tucked around his shoulders. 

Molly eagerly snuggled closer. He sighed with delight at the surge of warmth. 

“Could I … do something for you now?” Molly asked, tracing fingers along Caduceus’ thigh. 

At first Caduceus looked confused, then realization slowly dawned. “Oh! No thank you. I don’t … that’s not … I don’t need that.”

Molly frowned. “Don’t need it?”

“Or want it.” Caduceus shrugged. “I know a lot of other people do, but not me.”

“Huh.” Molly mused on that. That was new to him. “Do you mind if I …?” he gestured down at himself. 

“No.” Caduceus set down his teacup. “May I braid your hair? That’s been bothering me for days, your hair is such a mess.”

Molly huffed a laugh. “Yeah, sure.” 

As Molly reacquainted himself with the delight of pleasuring himself, Caduceus’ gentle hands tugged and shifted his hair into braid crown, looping around his horns. The touches sent pleasant shivers down Molly’s spine. 

The Moon

“Caleb, can I entertain you?” Molly asked. It was another day of waiting in the inn for the rains to let up and the river bridge to be repaired to the next town. 

“I don’t know, can you?” Caleb fired back. 

Molly grinned. “I could read your future.” He gestured to the cards arrayed before him. 

Caleb shook his head. “I have no future.”

“And I have no past. A perfect match!” Molly spread his hands in the air. “Two opposites joining … it’s meant to be.”

Caleb grumbled at that but sat down opposite Molly just the same. 

“Pass your hands over the cards to convey your essence to them.” Molly intoned in a deadly serious voice. 

Caleb did so. 

Molly mumbled nonsense words and hummed ominously, rolling his eyes in his head, before flipping over three cards in rapid succession. 

It was an ominous hand. Molly frowned. Usually he kept the nastier cards hidden up a sleeve or at the bottom of the deck. Was he so rusty, after his resurrection? 

“What do they mean?” Caleb asked. 

“Ah, well, this is where you were …” Molly pointed to the Tower card. An ill omen for many, full of tragedy and sudden upending of circumstances. He did not know much of Caleb’s past, but it was easy enough to read that on his face.

“That does not look like a happy card.”

“Well, it symbolizes great change. Revelations, breakthroughs. Important stuff.” Molly shrugged. “Painful, maybe, but you had to learn the truth right?”

Caleb’s lips twisted. “I suppose so. And what’s next? This looks like one of your tattoos.” 

The Moon. Another ill omen for many. “This is where you are, currently. You’re … ah, dwelling on the past, letting fear rule you, overwhelm your decisions, even if a lot of the fears might be illusory! Or … or as changeable as the phases of the moon!” 

Caleb scowled. “This is not a fun game, Mollymauk.” 

“It was meant to be!” Molly scowled down at the cards. “I don’t understand, I was supposed to deal you a fun hand, I was …” he searches through the deck for the proper cards. The Magician. The Lovers. The Two of Cups. Subtle nudges towards what he’d hoped was a burgeoning flirtation between the two of them. 

Caleb nudged him in the side. “You have not finished. What is this one?” he pointed to the final card. 

“It’s _supposed_ to be what’s to come, where you will be, but …” Molly stopped searching and focused on the final card. He’d been so preoccupied with the first two he’d stopped considering the final card. 

The Star shone in the final position. 

“Oh.” Molly set down the deck. “Oh that’s a very good card, Caleb.”

“Is it?” Caleb looked doubtful. 

“Yes it is! It means you’re going to get through this, you’re going to heal. Renewal and hope follows after the revelation and doubt.” Molly beamed at Caleb. “This is great!” 

“Hmmmm …” Caleb examined all three cards carefully. “… is this my reading, Molly, or yours?” 

Molly blinked, and looked down at the cards. From a certain perspective … perhaps …

Caleb picked up the Star, peering at it closely. “This woman is naked, and bathing. Are you trying to tell me to go take a bath?” 

Molly laughed. “No, I’m not!” 

“Well that is a shame,” Caleb set the card back down. “Because I was going to invite you up to my room to help me wash.”

Molly stared at Caleb. “Oh, were you?”

“Yes.” Caleb reached beneath the table, laying a hand on Molly’s thigh. “I am not skilled with the cards, but I believe I can read your future now.” 

Molly felt his mouth drop open. Was Caleb really doing this?

Caleb held up the Lovers card. “There it is.”

“How did you … oh.” Molly recalled then that Caleb and Nott had run scams in the past. Caleb would have had to become skilled at palming objects quickly. 

“If you want this back, you had better follow me upstairs.” Caleb stood up and heading for his room, taking the card with him. 

Molly collected the rest of the deck and hurried after him. Whether the reading had been for Caleb or himself no longer mattered, what mattered was what they made of it together.


End file.
